With domestic volumes of pink guava ramping up, demand for the tropical fruit continues to grow.
“We are starting the season in Florida. The largest volume starts at the end of June and goes all the way to September,” says Frank Martinez of Homestead, FL based A.R. Produce, who notes that the guava is grown in Homestead, Fl. “Right now we’re in preseason production. It’s decent volume but it’s not as decent as in the summertime.”
This year, A.R. Produce has added five acres of guava to its existing acreage. “Other than that, volume is pretty much the same as last year at this time,” says Martinez. “Guava is resilient. Even if we have hurricanes or freezes, it recovers really fast so that’s why we haven’t seen changes in volume.” However he does note that in the past three years at least, the warmer weather is ripening the fruit earlier and earlier.
While guava is available year-round from Florida, production is just starting to build. “In the winter we have it to just cover a few stores but in the summer, that’s when we have peak of the season and we have about 10,000 lbs per week,” says Martinez.
Increasing interest
That’s welcome news to consumers who’ve increasingly been purchasing the fruit. “Demand has increased for the past three years or so and that’s why we’ve been planting a little more and marketing it more,” says Martinez. The marketing efforts are to push pink Florida guava over other competing regions importing the product, namely Mexico, Thailand and China. “We try to market the guava where we can but especially where the Spanish population is because the pink guava is the guava they know,” says Martinez. “We’re putting it in boxes and clamshells to attract attention more and move more volume.”
While pricing is in line with last year’s pricing, it has come off since winter pricing. “During the winter, prices increase by about 20-30 percent. And then in the summer, it could decrease by about 10 percent to allow the stores to move more volume,” says Martinez.
For more information:
Frank Martinez
A.R. Produce
Tel: +1 (305) 246-1333
[email protected]
http://www.arproduce.us/
